(no subject)
I had a long weekend this weekend. I have been working quite hard recently. All leading up to a project milestone that we reached on Thursday lunchtime. My boss decided to let me work from home Friday morning and have the rest of the day off.
So I got a lot of spare time this weekend. I mostly spent it doing nothing productive and catching up on lots of things that are usually the first to go when important stuff needs doing.
The Wire
I watched the last 6 episodes of season 3, pretty much back to back. I am now convinced that this is one of the best TV shows I have ever watched. It has the political sophistication of the West Wing without the sentimental schmaltz. It has the convincing examination of criminals and criminality of the Sopranos. It has the detailed depiction of police work of something like Homicide. All that, brilliant acting, and it still manages to pull twists out of the bag that are shocking and yet utterly believable. I cannot put enough vigour into my recommendation. Get downloading.
Shadow of the Colossus
Bought on Saturday morning. 6 down 10 to go. I must ration myself though. It is a game to savour and I seem to be knocking through it quite quickly. This is probably down to having watched the first 5 colossi defeated, or participated in their defeat myself, when I played an import last November. I do love the wandering about the wilderness and should spend some more time doing it, rather than just spurring Agro to the next foe.
Like Ico, it is the aesthetic that is a major part of the experience (not to suggest that the game is at all weak). The echoing ruins, the contrasts between murky shadows and hazy sunlight, the silence broken only by the odd bird cry unless you call out for your horse to hear him neigh in response before galloping your way. All these isolating details contrast with the sheer enormity of the colossi themselves, the ground moving thunder of their footsteps and their agitated to frantic shaking attepts to dislodge you as you clamber through their hides and weaken them with pinprick blows to their vitals.
And most interesting of all is the nagging feeling that what you are doing in the pursuit of your quest is very, very wrong.
I did some other stuff too, but my enthusiasm for diarising seems to have been spent.
So that's all folks.
Boring media geekery for the win!
So I got a lot of spare time this weekend. I mostly spent it doing nothing productive and catching up on lots of things that are usually the first to go when important stuff needs doing.
The Wire
I watched the last 6 episodes of season 3, pretty much back to back. I am now convinced that this is one of the best TV shows I have ever watched. It has the political sophistication of the West Wing without the sentimental schmaltz. It has the convincing examination of criminals and criminality of the Sopranos. It has the detailed depiction of police work of something like Homicide. All that, brilliant acting, and it still manages to pull twists out of the bag that are shocking and yet utterly believable. I cannot put enough vigour into my recommendation. Get downloading.
Shadow of the Colossus
Bought on Saturday morning. 6 down 10 to go. I must ration myself though. It is a game to savour and I seem to be knocking through it quite quickly. This is probably down to having watched the first 5 colossi defeated, or participated in their defeat myself, when I played an import last November. I do love the wandering about the wilderness and should spend some more time doing it, rather than just spurring Agro to the next foe.
Like Ico, it is the aesthetic that is a major part of the experience (not to suggest that the game is at all weak). The echoing ruins, the contrasts between murky shadows and hazy sunlight, the silence broken only by the odd bird cry unless you call out for your horse to hear him neigh in response before galloping your way. All these isolating details contrast with the sheer enormity of the colossi themselves, the ground moving thunder of their footsteps and their agitated to frantic shaking attepts to dislodge you as you clamber through their hides and weaken them with pinprick blows to their vitals.
And most interesting of all is the nagging feeling that what you are doing in the pursuit of your quest is very, very wrong.
I did some other stuff too, but my enthusiasm for diarising seems to have been spent.
So that's all folks.
Boring media geekery for the win!